Wednesday, 27 September 2017

Washington DC & Baltimore

Apparently I took all my good photos on this trip while in Iceland BUT I did try in Washington DC and Baltimore. The weather was a bit weird so all of the photos have a bit of a weird light, I wanted to tell you about my highlights in the US anyway.

My favourite places were Georgetown, Dupont Circle in Washington DC and the Inner Harbour in Baltimore. Georgetown was a really cool area to shop and walk around. I also had some amazing Vietnamese food. While in Georgetown we saw a publicity stunt for the tv series The Handmaid's Tale where hundreds of girls walked around dressed as Handmaid's handing out occasional flyers to people who engaged with them and uttering the series' infamous phrase 'blessed be the fruit'. The Inner Harbour in Baltimore was fantastic in the sun and had tonnes of shops and restaurants to keep you entertained. Dupont Circle is mentioned later in this post.

Washington DC has been my ultimate bucket list destination for a number of years. As a politics student who has a keen interest in the US political system I was so excited to visit. Seeing all of these landmarks that I've seen on TV for years was incredible, especially the Lincoln Memorial.

While in DC we stayed in two different hotels, firstly The Liaison on Capitol Hill which was within walking distance of all the major attractions. I am going to be completely honest and tell you that the hotel was a little rough around the edges. It is clearly an older hotel that hasn't been redecorated so there were a few chips in the furniture and paint. I was also gutted that we were there just before the rooftop pool was open for the summer season. From DC, we moved on to Baltimore for two days, during our time in Baltimore we stayed at the Lord Baltimore hotel. Despite the rooms not looking the most exciting, the lobby of the hotel was incredible. The hotel is one of America's registered historic hotels and is absolutely stunning. The beds were SO comfy. T

he final hotel we stayed in was back in DC for our final two nights, this time we opted to stay in the downtown area Dupont Circle. The hotel we stayed in was aptly named The Dupont Circle and was my favourite we stayed in. The room was HUGE and the bathroom had the most incredible lighting and was completely marble. The walls in the hallways were a light cream velvet and the doors had a lighting system that displayed whether you wanted it to be cleaned or not. Dupont Circle is a really cool area of DC and is perfect for eating and drinking and getting more of a feel of the real DC. Misson is a really cool Mexican restaurant that is always full and has tasty food. In both Baltimore and DC the hotel rooms were huge, especially in comparison to the tiny NYC room that was previously my only US hotel experience.

It was really exciting to see new parts of the USA and I can't wait to see more! Finally a mention to my favourite meals I had while in the US. Weirdly, both were chain restaurants. First up; Bubba Gump. I know there is one in London but I had never been before but I had the BEST jambalaya I've ever had. My second favourite meal was at the Lebanese Taverna, another US chain. Also a prawn based meal. Honestly, both were incredible.

(Technically this post is over but when you're visiting places like aquariums do you ever end up taking random photos of other things like trees?)